Meloni applies for voice trademark to counter deepfakes

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has filed a sound trademark application with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) to address deepfakes. In a Facebook post, she said deepfakes can deceive, manipulate, and target anyone, and that she can defend herself, but many cannot. If approved, the sound trademark could provide Meloni with additional legal grounds to challenge unauthorized commercial use of the protected recording within the scope of the goods and services it covers, but it would not give her comprehensive control over all AI-generated voice imitations, nor would it make deepfakes a criminal offense. The revised AI Act passed by the EU in July requires deepfakes to be clearly disclosed and bans AI systems that generate non-consensual sexual images, videos, or audio of identifiable individuals, as well as systems that generate child sexual abuse material. The EUIPO application is still under examination.